Japan's Famous Cat Spots: Where to See Cat Cafés, Shrines and More
Japan has an affinity for all things feline: cat cafés, cat shrines, cat islands and even cats with jobs. Here are a few places any cat lover visiting Japan shouldn’t miss
Gotokuji Temple, Tokyo
One of Japan’s famous cat symbols is the white waving cat known as a maneki-neko. You’ll see these in homes and businesses all over the country, but only at Gotokuji in south-west Tokyo will you be surrounded by thousands of them.
Around the 16th century, goes the legend, a feudal lord who was caught in a rainstorm near Gotokuji saw the temple’s cat beckoning him in to shelter. Once he was safely inside, lightning struck the point at which he’d been standing. Feeling that the beckoning cat had saved his life, the lord bestowed his patronage on the temple turning the simple place of worship into a temple of great standing.
Today, people place their own waving cat sculptures at Gotokuji for good luck and prosperity in business and to bless their own furry friends. If you want to do the same, you can buy your own cat-themed ema (prayer plaques) at the shop inside.
If, however, you’d prefer to bless your relationship, you’ll want to head to Tokyo’s second waving cat worshipping spot, the Imado Shrine in the historic Asakusa district. This competes with Gotokuji as the original home to the figure—and has its own fun story to boot.
Back in the day, the Imado area was famous for pottery and legend has it that one night, a local resident who couldn’t afford to keep her beloved cat, had a dream where the cat told her to make dolls in the shape of a waving cat. Using local pottery, she created some in the design the...
Gotokuji Temple, Tokyo
One of Japan’s famous cat symbols is the white waving cat known as a maneki-neko. You’ll see these in homes and businesses all over the country, but only at Gotokuji in south-west Tokyo will you be surrounded by thousands of them.
Around the 16th century, goes the legend, a feudal lord who was caught in a rainstorm near Gotokuji saw the temple’s cat beckoning him in to shelter. Once he was safely inside, lightning struck the point at which he’d been standing. Feeling that the beckoning cat had saved his life, the lord bestowed his patronage on the temple turning the simple place of worship into a temple of great standing.
Today, people place their own waving cat sculptures at Gotokuji for good luck and prosperity in business and to bless their own furry friends. If you want to do the same, you can buy your own cat-themed ema (prayer plaques) at the shop inside.
If, however, you’d prefer to bless your relationship, you’ll want to head to Tokyo’s second waving cat worshipping spot, the Imado Shrine in the historic Asakusa district. This competes with Gotokuji as the original home to the figure—and has its own fun story to boot.
Back in the day, the Imado area was famous for pottery and legend has it that one night, a local resident who couldn’t afford to keep her beloved cat, had a dream where the cat told her to make dolls in the shape of a waving cat. Using local pottery, she created some in the design the cat had shown her, and started selling them at the shrine. They were so popular they raised her out of poverty—and created a Japanese icon.
Kishi Station, Wakayama
Nitama, the stationmaster at Kishi station in Wakayama, would watch trains from her stationmaster’s office. After a few minutes, she would roll over, lick her feet and go to sleep. The average stationmaster would probably get sacked at this point, but the average stationmaster isn’t a 13-year-old tortoiseshell cat.
When we visited, Nitama was one of two cat stationmasters along the line of the Wakayama Electric Railway, which runs between the city of Wakayama in Japan’s Kansai region, and the town of Kishi to the east. A rescue cat, Nitama took over the role, cute hat and medal in 2016, after the original tortoiseshell stationmaster Tama, a cat that lived in the station when it was being built, passed away after nine years of service.
Pictures of Tama in her stationmaster’s hat turned the fortunes of the line around, which was on the verge of closing in 2006. Now, around 2.3 million people a year ride the railway to visit the feline stationmasters. Nitama passed away in November 2025 after nine years of service. Her colleague Yontama, who previously ‘looked after’ Idakiso station, was named the new stationmaster of Kishi station in January 2026. The day we visited, she was being very vocal about it, jumping from her cat tree to her cat tunnels and meowing loudly for a snack.
As you ride the train out to Kishi, the scenery is stunning—traditional houses are surrounded by green fields, rivers, and you can even spot the odd waterfall, but most people aren’t looking out of the window, they’re snapping pictures of all the cat-themed decor inside the train. Yes, even two of the trains here are Tama-themed.
When we pulled into the station, many went to visit Nitama, but my guide, Yamaki, led me to a small shrine on the platform dedicated to Tama. The pile of stones was collected from the river bed by the president of the train company himself.
Tetsudokan Café, Osaka
About 90 kilometres away from Kishi, in a residential area of Osaka, I sit in a room full of people intensely watching a cream-and-red train chug its way around a model train set. Suddenly, a huge cheer goes up—a little black and brown cat nestled in between a valley of green felt-covered mountains has just swiped the train off the track with a quick paw pat. You see, while the cake they serve for afternoon tea in this café is nice, it’s the chance to spot cats choosing violence that’s really brought everyone here.
The café is called Tetsudokan Café and Rest Bar (aka the Diorama Restaurant), and a few years ago it was struggling. Their main selling point, a diorama model railway people could watch as they ate steaming bowls of ramen, wasn’t bringing in people like it used to and the owners weren’t sure what to do. Then, they adopted a stray cat family. As cats do, the new family decided the model trains were there for their amusement and the café’s owner, Naiko, uploaded pictures of them playing with the engines to the restaurant’s Instagram page.
Not surprisingly, in a country that made Godzilla an honorary citizen of Tokyo, the sight of ‘giant’ cats wandering through a backdrop of tiny trees and miniature houses, occasionally batting the odd train into oblivion, became a hit on social media (60.2K followers and counting) and now, Tetsudoken is so popular you have to book a seat to visit the café. (To make a reservation, visit their website at www.railway-cats.com).
To say thank you, the café has now turned into a fully-fledged cat rescue and rehoming centre, with proceeds from the café funding their mission.
Tashirojima, Sendai
The aforementioned destinations can easily be included in a normal tourist trip to Japan, which commonly takes in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, however true feline fanciers might want to go out of their way and visit one of Japan’s cat islands where the cat populations equal—if not outnumber—that of people.
If you’re travelling south, visit Ainoshima, a short train and ferry ride from Hakata in Fukuoka. Here you’ll find around 230 cats—and 280 residents—living happily side-by-side in a small fishing port. Or, from Tokyo, take the 90-minute bullet train north to Sendai where a 90-minute train and ferry ride away will take you to the cat-filled island of Tashirojima.
Cats were originally brought to Tashirojima to protect silkworms used by textile workers on the island, but fisherman also used them to predict their catch, one Tashirojima local told me. “They would look at the cats’ eyes and if they felt they looked bigger than normal, it was a sign that the catch was going to be good.”
The ancestors of those fortune-telling cats now outnumber human residents around two to one. You’ll find cats lounging all over the island, but the peak kitty-spotting point is the verandah of the café Tashirojima Nyanko Kyowakoko Shimanoeki in the middle of the island. Staff here feed the cats at noon and it seems that half the population arrive for snacks.
If travelling to Tashirojima, be aware that the crossing can be choppy, and check the Twitter feed of the Ajishima line (@ajishimaline) before you set off to ensure the waves aren’t too high for them to land at the island.
Cat-themed fun, Japan
The ideas I’ve outlined here are only a few of the cat-themed things you can do in Japan. There is so much more. You’ll also find cat-shaped toast in fashionable Takeshita Street in Harajuku. Towns such as Tokoname, near Nagoya, are filled with cat art. And a museum near Hiroshima was put on the map by two intrepid cats trying to outsmart the security guard and sneak inside each day. You can even ride a high-speed pink and white bullet train themed around Hello Kitty, the cute cartoon cat with a bow. No wonder there’s a term for how much money neko (cats) bring to the Japanese economy—'nekonomics'. Which begs the question, how much might your trip to Japan contribute to the nekonomy?
—With Inputs by Avanish Chandrasekaran